A Book Is More Than Paragraphs

Good typography gives structure to an argument. It should work just as well for a field guide as it does for a novel.

This second paragraph demonstrates the book’s first-line indent. Reader preferences should still control the size, colors, and reading environment.

Emphasis and meaning

Use emphasis, strong emphasis, and inline code when they carry meaning. Semantic HTML covers H2O, x2, deleted text, Enter, and EPUB.

A quotation

A useful default gives every ordinary element a considered treatment.

It also leaves room for the reader.

Lists with structure

  1. Continue from seven.

  2. Keep the hierarchy visible.

    • A nested observation.
    • Another observation.

  3. Return to the main argument.

Reference material

Element Purpose
Heading Orientation
Footnote Supporting detail
Definition Precise meaning
Reflow
Text adapts to the available reading space.
Measure
The length of a line of text.

Code and line breaks

for chapter in book:
    read(chapter)

A line of verse.
Another line, in the same stanza.

A scene break should remain visible. A note can carry the details.1

Extended Markdown for reference books

EPUB keeps the manuscript editable. HTML is the rendering vocabulary.

Revise the old wording and insert the new wording. Use a marked passage for emphasis that should stand out. Scientific notation stays concise: H2O and x2.

Inline code stays literal: ~~not deleted~~ and x^2^.

Instructions with nested code

  1. Open a Python session.

  2. Read the chapters:

    for chapter in book:
    print(chapter.title)

  3. Review the output.

A command can also belong inside a quotation:

prosedown build manuscript/ book.epub

Definitions with more than one paragraph

Source file

An editable Markdown document.

A definition can contain a second paragraph and emphasis.

manuscript/01-introduction.md
Reading system
Software that lays out an EPUB for a reader.
A device or application that applies reader preferences.

A longer note can include a list and literal code.2

Reading code comfortably

Inline code such as book.md, author: "Jane Smith", and prosedown build should be easy to pick out without interrupting a sentence. A linked identifier, chapter.title, keeps its link affordance.

Using configuration in a heading

Long identifiers should wrap instead of widening the page: publication.chapters.introduction.references.primary_source.archive_identifier.

publication.chapters.introduction.references.primary_source.archive_identifier
    Indentation remains visible even when a long line wraps on a small screen.

Quoted code stays upright: print("Hello, reader").